Right tank end ribs done

The more time I spend on this stuff, the funnier it is to think I once imagined I’d do the end ribs of both tanks, plus the internal wiring and plumbing, all in one evening after work. Fortunately, though, the right tank is almost there – all that’s left to do is to install the inboard sender plate and finalize the wiring and so forth.
Nothing really complicated went down tonight, just sort of rote work. I pulled out around 2/3 of the clecos, cleaned out the holes, hit the dimples with a countersink bit, cleaned, dabbed in sealant, and squeezed the rivets, then repeated with the remaining rivets. It was a nice change to just use the squeezer on these instead of the rivet gun. Next up was the forward tank attach bracket; I just smeared sealant onto the contacting surface with a popsicle stick like I was icing a cake, then clecoed it in place. I recruited Josie’s help to bang those six rivets, since it was a bit of a stretch to both shoot and buck while working at the extreme front of the tank.
From there, I installed the flop tube, the remaining anti-hangup guide, and the little trapdoor, adding sealant strategically to help hold a few items in place. (I think I’ve come to the point of thinking that sealant makes everything better. Some kind of weird Stockholm Syndrome or something.)
I would have liked to have done the sender plate tonight as well, but I checked the time after doing the trapdoor and it was already midnight! Time to turn in for the night for sure. I think my new goal is to try to have both tanks done this weekend, with the exception of the baffles. That’ll give the sealant a week or more to cure, and I can do the gross water leak test next weekend before finally closing these things out.
Anyway, it’s photo time. Here’s a tank with no clecos:

Close-up of the forward attach bracket with the flop tube bulkhead fitting going through it:

Wide view of the inboard bay, where all the crazy stuff is at:

Close-up of the trapdoor and outboard anti-hangup guide:

And the flop tube bulkhead fitting from the inside:

Whew! Now to see if I can get the sender in place tomorrow night. Or maybe I’ll go ahead and do the end ribs for the left tank tomorrow, and save the sender plates on both tanks for a single sort of “final stuff” session.